# About Notabase

Notabase (pronounced *noh-tuh-base*) is a personal knowledge base for networked thinking.

I started Notabase because I couldn't find a note-taking app that meshed with the way I think. The existing options were too complicated and hard to use, or didn't have the capabilities I needed.

The ideal note-taking app doesn't just let you take notes; it helps you **write and think better**. With that fundamental guiding star, I eventually settled on three core principles:

1. **Easy to use; it just works.**
2. **Links are first-class citizens.**
3. **Open, transparent, and privacy-friendly.**

### 1. Easy to use; it just works

Some note-taking apps have such a big learning curve that they feel more like coding than writing. In contrast, Notabase is honed to be as easy-to-use as possible, but without sacrificing power.

Notabase has a WYSIWYG editor that gives you a rich-text experience, regardless of whether you're reading or editing a note. You can format text using keyboard shortcuts, a formatting toolbar, or Markdown.

It's built for the universal platform: the web. Your notes are automatically accessible across all of your devices—no additional setup needed.

### 2. Links are first-class citizens

Nothing exists in a vacuum, so your notes shouldn't either. With Notabase, your notes form bidirectional links to each other, allowing you to organize knowledge associatively, not just hierarchically.

The real power comes from backlinks, which let you see which notes link to a specific note. This allows relevant notes and pieces of knowledge to naturally bubble up to the surface, empowering your writing, research, and ideas.

With these links, your notes form a network—your own, personal knowledge graph—so every note, idea, and piece of knowledge you have is mise en place.

### 3. Open, transparent, and privacy-friendly

Notabase is [open source](https://github.com/churichard/notabase) with a public [changelog](https://notabase.io/changelog) and [roadmap](https://trello.com/b/dpZLRkRR), which means that development happens transparently and the entire community is involved.

Notabase will never sell your data or advertise to you. The only way Notabase makes money is from users paying for the product, which aligns incentives.

There's also no lock-in; your notes are fully owned by you. You can export your notes at any time to Markdown. And since Notabase is open source, you can even self-host it.

## How does Notabase compare to other networked thinking apps (e.g. Roam Research, Obsidian, etc.)?

Notabase is designed to be easy to use and accessible to anyone. Roam is targeted more towards technical people: those who know Markdown or are willing to invest a significant amount of time learning Roam. And Obsidian requires a lot of manual configuration, such as setting up your own syncing and backup service. In comparison, Notabase is super easy and simple to get started with, but also very powerful once you get deeper into it.

And unlike many other networked thinking apps, Notabase is fundamentally open. The entire code is open source, so anyone can inspect it. We also have a community where anyone can voice their thoughts and contribute to the development of the app. And it's privacy-friendly: you have full ownership over your notes, we don't sell your data or advertise to you, and we don't read your private notes.

Plus, Notabase has some unique features as well, like page stacking, which makes it so you can seamlessly work between multiple notes at once. It also has a robust force-directed graph view, making it easy to look at the relationships between your notes, and powerful full-text search.

The best way to know how Notabase compares is to [try it out for yourself](https://notabase.io/signup). You can get started with Notabase for free with no time limit.


# Getting Started

Here are some basics to help you get started.

## Bidirectional linking

Bidirectional linking is a fundamental idea in Notabase. You can link to other notes, and each note displays the notes that link to it (its "backlinks"). This lets you navigate through your notes in an associative way and helps you build connections between similar ideas.

Link to another note by using the hovering menu, pressing `cmd/ctrl + k`, or enclosing its title in double brackets.

## Formatting text

Notabase has a powerful editor that displays rich text in real-time. Here are just a few of the ways you can format text:

* Select some text and use the hovering menu to style your writing
* Click on the menu to the left side of any block to change the block type (e.g. paragraph, heading, bulleted list, etc.).
* Type [markdown shortcuts](/markdown-shortcuts), which gets converted automatically to rich text as you type
* Use [keyboard shortcuts](/keyboard-shortcuts), like `cmd/ctrl + b` for bold, `cmd/ctrl + i` for italics, etc.

## Creating or finding notes

You can create new notes or find existing notes by clicking on "Find or create note" in the sidebar or by pressing `cmd/ctrl + p`. Just type in the title of the note you want to create or find.

## Learn more

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MkNRPIRUITu1uS1dJ9M" %}
[How to install Notabase](/how-to-install-notabase)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/-Mj\_jscZeavvVw8etQYG" %}
[Organizing your notes](/organizing-your-notes)
{% endcontent-ref %}


# How to install Notabase

Notabase is a Progressive Web App (PWA). This means that you can install Notabase just as you would a regular desktop or mobile app.

Being a PWA means that Notabase loads faster and consumes less data. It also means that you can view your notes offline. Being able to edit your notes offline will be coming later.

## How to install on mobile

### Chrome / Edge / Brave

If you see an "Add to Home Screen" banner on the bottom of your screen, you can tap it to install Notabase.

Otherwise, you can tap the 3 dots in the top right, then "Install App".

### Safari

Tap the “Share” button, then tap “Add to Home Screen”.

### Firefox

Tap the 3 dots in the top right, then tap "Install".

## How to install on desktop

### Chrome / Edge / Brave

On the right side of the address bar, you'll see an icon next to the bookmark icon. Click it, then click "Install".

### Safari

Safari for desktop does not support PWAs.

### Firefox

Firefox for desktop does not support PWAs.


# Organizing your notes

Notabase provides multiple ways to organize your notes.

## Linking your notes to each other

The primary way is by linking your notes to each other. This can be done by pressing `ctrl/cmd + k`, highlighting some text and pressing "Link" in the hovering toolbar, or using markdown: `[[Note Title]]`.

The linked note will then have a reference to the note that linked to it underneath "Linked References."

This method organizes your notes associatively and makes it easy to handle large quantities of notes.

## Nesting your notes

You can also organize your notes hierarchically by nesting them within each other in the sidebar. You can think of this as a folder/file structure where each folder is also a note that you can write in.

To nest your notes, simply drag and drop a note onto another note. You can also click "Move to" in the note dropdown, either from the sidebar or from the note header. This can be useful if you want to move a note to the root level.

## Tags

You can add tags to your notes by typing `#`, then the name of the tag and a space, e.g. `#Tag`. If you click on the tag, it will start a search in the sidebar for all of the blocks with that tag.

For more information on advanced searching, check out [Advanced Search](/advanced-search).


# Editor Elements

## Block Elements

Notabase has a large variety of blocks, including:

* Paragraph
* Heading 1
* Heading 2
* Heading 3
* Bulleted List
* Numbered List
* Checklist
* Quote Block
* Code Block
* Thematic Break
* Image
* Block Reference

## Inline Elements

In terms of inline elements, Notabase supports:

* Bold
* Italics
* Underline
* Inline code
* Strikethrough
* Highlight
* Note links
* External links
* Tags

## More information

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MfZ65GEXWCeUmy6xil4" %}
[Keyboard Shortcuts](/keyboard-shortcuts)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MfZ67OQDHsG\_uF1OX73" %}
[Markdown Shortcuts](/markdown-shortcuts)
{% endcontent-ref %}


# Markdown Shortcuts

With Notabase, you can type markdown inline, and it will be automatically converted into the corresponding formatting block.

## Inline shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used while you're typing.

* Type `**` on either side of your text to bold.
* Type `*` on either side of your text to italicize.
* Type `` ` `` on either side of your text to create inline code.
* Type `~~` on either side of your text to strikethrough.
* Type `[[Linked Note]]` to insert a link to the note "Linked Note". This will create a new note with that title if it does not already exist.
* Type `[title](https://www.example.com)` to insert an external link. Or if you have the URL copied, you can type `title`, highlight it, and paste to create a link.
* Type `[custom title]([[Linked Note]])` to insert a link to the note "Linked Note" with a custom title.
* Type `#Tag` followed by a `space` to insert a tag called `Tag`.
* Type `((` and then some text in order to search for a block across all of your notes that has that text. Clicking on that block will insert a block reference.

## Block shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used at the beginning of any line.

* Type `#` followed by a `space` to create an H1 heading.
* Type `##` followed by a `space` to create an H2 heading.
* Type `###` followed by a `space` to create an H3 heading.
* Type `-`, `*`, or `+` followed by a `space` to create a bulleted list.
* Type `1.` followed by a `space` to create a numbered list.
* Type `[]` to create a checklist item.
* Type `>` followed by a `space` to create a quote block.
* Type ` ``` ` to create a code block.
* Type `---` or `***` to create a thematic break / horizontal rule.


# Keyboard Shortcuts

Notabase has a lot of keyboard shortcuts to help you do things faster, and we're adding more all the time.

## Navigation

* `cmd/ctrl + p` to create a new note or jump to an existing note.
* `cmd/ctrl + \` to open or close the sidebar.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + e` to switch to the notes pane.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + f` to switch to the search pane.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + g` to go to Graph View.

## Formatting

### Inline shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used while you're typing.

You can also use [markdown shortcuts](/markdown-shortcuts) to format your text while typing.

* `cmd/ctrl + b` to bold.
* `cmd/ctrl + i` to italicize.
* `cmd/ctrl + u` to underline.
* `` cmd/ctrl + ` `` to create inline code.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + s` to strikethrough.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + h` to highlight.
* `cmd/ctrl + k` to create a link.

### Block shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used to change the type of block you're in.

* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 1` to create an H1 heading.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 2` to create an H2 heading.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 3` to create an H3 heading.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 4` to create a bulleted list.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 5` to create a numbered list.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 6` to create a checklist.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 7` to create a quote block.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 8` to create a code block.
* `cmd/ctrl + shift + 9` to create a paragraph.

### Tabbing / entering

* `tab` to create a nested bullet point in a bulleted or numbered list.
* `shift + tab` to unindent a nested bullet point in a bulleted or numbered list.
* `shift + enter` to create a soft line break.
* `cmd/ctrl + enter` to create a hard line break.


# Importing / Exporting

## How does importing work?

You can import standard Markdown files into Notabase. If any imported files have the same name as an existing note inside of Notabase, then the existing note will be **overridden**, so be careful.

If you have wikilinks `[[ ]]`  in your Markdown, we also support the wikilink aliases using the `|` symbol, e.g. `[[Note|Note alias]]` will create a note link in Notabase with the text "Note alias" that points to the note "Note".

## How does exporting work?

You can export your notes to standard Markdown.

Notabase features not present in standard Markdown are converted to their best equivalent. For example, note links are converted into wikilinks, and block references are converted to plaintext.


# Advanced Search

Typing in a search term in the sidebar, for the most part, works the way you expect.

However, if you want more control and flexibility over your search, you can use advanced search. This capability is offered by the search library we use (Fuse.js).

The following is adapted from [their documentation](https://fusejs.io/examples.html#extended-search). This syntax is subject to change as we make it better and more intuitive to use over time.

## How to use advanced search

White space acts as an **AND** operator, while a single pipe (`|`) character acts as an **OR** operator. To escape white space, use double quote ex. `="search query"` for exact match.

| Token     | Match type                 | Description                          |
| --------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `query`   | fuzzy-match                | Items that fuzzy match `query`       |
| `=query`  | exact-match                | Items that are `query`               |
| `'query`  | include-match              | Items that include `query`           |
| `!query`  | inverse-exact-match        | Items that do not include `query`    |
| `^query`  | prefix-exact-match         | Items that start with `query`        |
| `!^query` | inverse-prefix-exact-match | Items that do not start with `query` |
| `query$`  | suffix-exact-match         | Items that end with `query`          |
| `!query$` | inverse-suffix-exact-match | Items that do not end with `query`   |

Advanced search is particularly useful when working with tags. For example, if you want to search for all blocks that have the tag `#todo` but not the tag `#done`, you can search for `#todo !#done`.


# FAQ

## How does Notabase compare to other networked thinking apps (e.g. Roam Research, Obsidian, etc.)?

[Click here](/) to read more about Notabase, its principles, and how it compares to other apps.

## Is there a desktop or mobile app?

Notabase is a Progressive Web App (PWA). This means that you can install Notabase just as you would a regular desktop or mobile app.

For more information, go to [How to install Notabase](/how-to-install-notabase).

## Can I use Notabase offline?

You can view your notes offline as long as you've already loaded Notabase, or if you've [installed Notabase](/how-to-install-notabase). However, you need to be online to edit notes -- otherwise, your changes will not be saved.

## How are my notes stored?

Your notes are stored in the cloud. This makes it convenient and easy for you to view and edit your notes on any device. Our backend provider is [Supabase](https://supabase.io).

We take your privacy very seriously. You have **full ownership** over your notes, and can export them at any time to Markdown. We do not sell your notes to others or use them for advertising. And we will never read or access your private notes without your consent.

Since Notabase is in beta, we recommend that you take regular backups of your notes. You can do this by clicking "Export All" in the menu in the note header.

For more information, take a look at our [Privacy Policy](https://notabase.io/privacy).

## Are my notes secure?

All of your data, including your notes and any files you upload, are encrypted at rest with enterprise-grade security in the cloud. Your data is transferred through SSL when it's synced, which prevents anyone from looking at or tampering with it.

## I still have a question or need help.

Feel free to pop into our [Discord](https://discord.gg/BQKNRu7nv5) and ask your question there, or email us directly.